Post-surgery
The benefits of PTEs are significant. Most patients after surgery no longer suffer from shortness of breath and therefore have a much improved quality of life. Further, pulmonary vascular resistance usually drops back to close normal levels. Since the pulmonary resistance is proportional to the pressure driving the pulmonary flow (P=Q*R), it follows that the pulmonary pressure decreases. This in turn means that the work per time (power) decreases because it is equal to the pressure gradient times the volumetric flow, which in this case is the cardiac output. As a result of the operation, patients are spared from pulmonary hypertension and further right ventricular hypertrophy. Most pleasing is that patients who previously had right heart dysfunction often recover function.
Read more about this topic: Pulmonary Thromboendarterectomy